


Behind Closed Doors

by ForYourAmusement



Series: Behind Closed Doors [Short Story Series] [1]
Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Angst, Humor, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 04:46:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18843925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForYourAmusement/pseuds/ForYourAmusement
Summary: "Many things, both frivalous and lascivious, happen behind closed doors and away from prying eyes." ---- A series of short stories that have little or no connection with one another. Updates whenever inspiration strikes.Latest Chapter: "Special Ghoul has trouble coming up with lyrics. A certain elusive Ghoul drops by to try and help."





	Behind Closed Doors

**Author's Note:**

> CHAPTER STATS:  
> \- Character(s): Special Ghoul (Major), Cowbell Ghoul (Major), Cardinal Copia (Minor), Fire Ghoul/Dewdrop (Minor), Aether Ghoul (Minor)  
> \- Chapter Pairing(s): Special Ghoul/Cowbell Ghoul (Heavily Implied), One-Sided Special Ghoul/Omega Ghoul (Implied), Omega Ghoul/Alpha Ghoul (Implied)  
> \- Warning(s): None  
> \- Headcanon(s): Cowbell is an Earth Ghoul, just like Special is a Fire Ghoul (At least in this story they are).

He stared at the blank page for what felt like an eternity, mindlessly tapping his pen on the desk and muttering incomprehensible words to himself. The grandfather clock that was tucked away in the farthest corner of the office diligently ticked and tocked. The white noise was deafening in the otherwise silent room, and it chipped away at Special's sanity and patience with every tick. The ghoul eventually growled to himself and smacked his pen down on the desk, leaning back and furiously rubbing his face.

He had no idea how long he'd been sitting in that god-awful chair at that god-awful desk, but the longer he listened to that damned grandfather clock tick, the more appealing the thought of just screaming and hurling it across the room became. Special wondered why it was so difficult to write now since he's written easily all the other times before. He had thought of plenty things to write for and about, but it all seemed to evaporate as soon as he sat down and took out a pen.

Special kind of wished Omega was there with him, like he was before the reign of the Cardinal, to bounce ideas off of him. Special hadn't the opportunity to see much of him ever since he and the other ghouls were decommissioned from the band, and, truth be told, Special missed him somewhat. They had gotten along together remarkably well... Well, almost everyone says opposites attract, don't they? A calm and kindly aether ghoul and a nasty, short-tempered fire ghoul. Of course, that description better fit Alpha than Special.

 _I guess that's why he chose him then_ , Special thought miserably and sighed heavily. Now he was irritated _and_ depressed and having just an overall _fun_ time.

"I hate everything." Yup, just a grand old time!

 

* * *

 

 

A firm knocking at the door of the office broke through the monotony of Special's surroundings and made him jump. He glanced down and saw that his page was full of senseless scribbles and random words and phrases that nowhere near resembled lyrics or composition. He wasn't sure how the Cardinal would react at his lack of any real progress, and honestly, his awareness was much too hazy to really recognize such potentially dire repercussions.

More knocking alerted him once again to the presence outside the office. With a sigh, he stood up and lumbered over towards the door and threw it open, and there it revealed not the face of the Cardinal, but rather the mask of a ghoul.

"What are you doing here, Cowbell?" Special grumbled, slightly relieved to see that it wasn't Copia, but also slightly peeved that he was interrupted.

The earth ghoul, so lovingly dubbed "Cowbell" for his choice of instrument, inclined his head respectfully to the older ghoul. "Ah, well, Omega is preparing dinner this evening, and he asked where you were. When I told him that you were cooped up in here all day, he ordered me to come fetch you and tell you that you needed to wash up before the food was ready," he explained.

Special sucked in a breath as his chest panged painfully, "Omega's cooking...?"

"Indeed," Cowbell nodded, "He said that he was going to make this dish called--"

"I didn't ask, and I don't care," the fire ghoul interrupted impatiently. He pivoted on his heel and stalked back over to his desk. "Tell him I won't be able to make it to dinner. I was tasked with writing the songs for the next album and I have not even a line done. The Cardinal is supposed to come by later this evening to check on my progress, which there is none, and that means that I'll be put on the hot seat for wasting the day away!"

"I don't think Mr. Copia would do that," Cowbell said gently as he followed Special into the room, "He seems to be very nice if shy, much nicer than the previous Papas at least, and so I think he would be understanding towards your struggle.”

“What you think is different than what is real,” Special replied with a scowl. “Why do you think he was employed by Sister Imperator? To do fuck-all like the Third? No, he does what is needed for the Church to succeed by any means necessary, just as the Sister has said.”

Cowbell silently regarded Special for a moment. “You know, you are acting far more prickly than usual, Special. It is unlike you.”

“Oh, I wonder _why_. It’s not like my career is _dangling_ by a thread before my very eyes or anything like that. Should I point out that I’ve been practically swept under the rug in regards to interviews ever since the Cardinal rose to power? Everything I do now counts towards my work ethic. If I mess up, I bet a hundred bucks I’ll end up six feet in the dirt just like Papa Nihil’s sons!” The fire ghoul squawked.

“I am certain you are being paranoid,” The lanky earth ghoul huffed as he pulled out a seat. “If you want, I could stay and assist you.”

Special didn’t answer, so Cowbell went ahead anyway and picked up the paper that sat on the desk. His eyes lingered on the rather demented-looking smiley face in the corner of the paper before gazing over the nonsensical phrases sketched in the middle of the page. He stared long and hard, perhaps too long as Special soon rips the paper from his hands to throw it away, his tail thumping violently against his chair. Cowbell glared at the moody fire ghoul in turn.

“Is that a no, then?” He proceeded to ask.

Special snorted and produced a fresh piece of paper, smacking it down in between the two of them. “I didn’t say that,” he eventually replied.

 _Damn these fire ghouls and their ever so contradictory behavior,_ Cowbell thought irritably. He picked up the pen and pondered briefly over his choice of words before neatly scribbling two lines on the paper. He slid it towards Special with a somewhat prideful air.

“There! Maybe you can work off of this?” He asked.

Special looked it over and guffawed at what he read, making the earth ghoul wilt at his reaction. “’ _There is something dark inside that I cannot hide; Twisting and tearing, I cannot confide’?_ Huh, I didn’t know you worked as a lyricist for some edgy boy band, Cowbell,” he remarked. “This would work, if we were said edgy boy band.”

The cowbell ghoul physically recoiled back in his chair. “I only wrote what came to my mind first!” He protested weakly.

“If this is what came to your head first, then you cannot write lyrics to save your own life.” Special said lightly and waved the paper about. “I don’t think you could even play an instrument to save your life either.”

“W-What? How _dare_ you! I play an instrument! It’s called a cowbell, _hence_ my nickname.” He said angrily.

Special sneered at him. “There is no science or creativity behind playing a cowbell.”

“Sure there is!”

“Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right!” The fire ghoul exclaimed with fake cheer. “The science of _percussive maintenance!_ If you haven’t yet realized, that doesn’t work with guitars or pianos. They need structure to sound good.”

“Hey, you need structure with a cowbell, too--” He was interrupted when Special slammed the palms of his hands down hard on the table. The fiery-eyed ghoul leaned in close to his face.

“No, you don’t! You just hit it and make noise!” He snarled.

Cowbell flew up from his seat and glared indignantly. “You do the same with drums!” He argued.

“No, no, you do not,” Special waggled his finger, “It’s different with drums.”

“How? You hit it with drumsticks to make a beat, just the same as you do with a cowbell.” Cowbell replied with crossed arms.

“ _What?_ Are you tone deaf? Drums have structure, too, you idiot.”

“So do cowbells.”

“No, they don’t! You’re literally just hitting it and making noise. I already fucking said this!” Special threw his hands up, exasperated.

“The cowbell--” He was interrupted yet again by Special’s hands hitting the table once more.

“I swear to the Dark Lord below that if you say _‘cowbell’_ one more fucking time, I will strangle the ever-loving shit out of you.” He threatened.

From beneath his mask, Cowbell grinned crookedly. “Well, you have to admit that I possess some talent then, playing with a cowbell, since I’ve actually been up on stage in front of hundreds of people... unlike you.”

The fire ghoul responded by reaching up and yanking him up and over the table by the collar of his shirt. Their masks were mere inches apart, and the earth ghoul could see the intensity burning brightly within Special’s eyes and got lost within their depths.

“ _Earth ghoul_ ,” he growled and the deep sound make made said ghoul trapped in his grasp twitch minutely. “I swear that if you do not shut your mouth, you will suffer at the brunt of my temper. Do you understand me?”

Cowbell didn’t answer right away, still looking deep into Special’s eyes. Special felt a vague sense of awkwardness pour into his being as the foolish ghoul continued to not say anything and look into his eyes with awe. He jerked the ghoul back, which, thankfully, made him snap out of it... Or, well, so it seemed.

“Do you understand me? I won’t ask again.” He demanded, blatantly ignoring the fact that his voice was significantly weaker than before.

Cowbell floundered around for a moment. “I- I, uh--”

He was saved by the door flying open, terribly startling the poor ghouls, and walking in was the Cardinal being flanked by Aether and Fire on either side of him. They paused at the sight of the two ghouls very nearly pressed against each other, and they most likely would have been if it weren’t for the table separating them. The Special ghoul quickly regained composure and practically shoved the Cowbell ghoul away from him, clearing his throat awkwardly. The Cowbell ghoul stumbled and barely managed to catch himself on the chair. He seems to still be in a startled daze.

From the right, Fire is trying and failing to hold back his laughter. From the left, Aether makes an odd noise as he looks on with concerned eyes. In the middle, the Cardinal lets out an all-suffering sigh before pretending that he saw absolutely nothing.

“Special ghoul,” he addressed with polite nod of his head, “I have come to check in on you with your writing developments. I trust that you have gotten some things done?”

Special cringed and avoided the firm gaze of his superior. “I, um, well, you see, I...” he felt the Cardinal’s gaze dig into the skin of his cheek and decided to swallow his excuses. “No. I wasn’t able to even finish one song composition. I... I’m sorry, sir.”

“I see. Do you think, perhaps, that this ghoul over here may not be the best of company to keep as you work, Special?” He said, gesturing toward Cowbell.

“No, no!” Special waved his hands urgently, “Cowbell hasn’t even been here for ten minutes. He came to inform me of dinner, but decided to stay and try to help me. It, uh, kind of devolved as you may have noticed.”

“ _’Devolved’_ is an interesting way of saying you manhandled him.” Fire chuckled. He pouted when Aether wacked him in the arm and shushed him.

Special ignored him and carried on. “I will admit that I am having a bit of trouble writing. You know that I am capable of writing on my own, I have done so before, of course, but it... I used to write alongside the former quintessence ghoul, you see, and we used to exchange ideas. I suppose I relied on him a bit too much now that I no longer see him regularly. I’m... truly sorry for wasting your time, Cardinal.” He said quietly.

“It is quite alright, Special ghoul. I wasn’t expecting you to have completed the entire next album in a day’s time,” The Cardinal said with a nasally chuckle, “I say, take as much time as you need, okay? It is not only unnecessary to push yourself onto the brink on insanity for the sake of a song, but it is also unhealthy. Relax yourself and take any time off as you need, understand?”

“Y-Yes, sir, I understand. Thank you, sir.” Special smiled slightly.

“Good, good. I don’t want my lyrical genius to drop dead from a lack of exhaustion, okay?” The Cardinal jested with a playful grin.

Special laughed gently. “Yes, sir. I will rest.”

“Good! If that’s all, then I shall be off. Have a good evening, ghouls.” The Cardinal parted with a final firm nod of his head.

“Gotta admit, Spesh, I didn’t peg you as a roleplayer. I expected Rain to be, maybe even Swiss, but you? That was quite the surprise!” Fire exclaimed.

“W-What!? You have it all wrong, Fire!” Special yelped and blushed furiously.

Aether sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Fire, please stop trying to antagonize your fellow fire ghoul.” He rebuked before ushering the smaller ghoul towards the way of the exit. He looked over his shoulder at the other two ghouls and gave them an apologetic smile. “Have a good evening, you two.”

“Aww, I was just poking fun at them, Aether! No harsh feelings of any kind, really. No harm, no foul!”

“No harm, no foul? Then you should really watch what you say at times...”

They left bickering to each other and the Cardinal adding nothing but a shake of his head. The cowbell ghoul watched them go, still somewhat bewildered by the Cardinal’s initial appearance. He glanced over at the silent form of the Special ghoul and he felt his heart flutter with gratitude at the fact he had defended him even after their fervid argument had almost made the fire ghoul choke him in utter murderous rage.

“Hey,” He called out and waited patiently until those crystalline eyes slid over to meet his. He gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks for that. I appreciate it.”

Special blinked before turning away with a dark mutter. “Whatever. You’re welcome.”

“Also,” he waited again until those eyes snapped back to him. “I told you he seemed nice.”

“Shut the hell up, Cowbell.”

“Also cowbells are, in fact, instruments.”

“ _Shut the hell up, Cowbell_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you have anything/anyone you would like to see, drop a suggestion in the comments! There's a 50/50 chance that I'll do it, but it entirely depends on whether or not it appeals to the muse, unfortunately.


End file.
